Material & Form: Andrew Clausen :: Richard Perry

Photography forms the basis of his work with subject matter ranging from architecture to industrial machinery.  From these subject images, a composition is created in relationship to the canvas by reducing, rearranging, and sometimes adding to the forms that are in the photographed image.  Once a work has taken shape graphically, it is translated to vector lines and machine code that is used to shape the individual sections of the mould which the concrete is cast into.  Subtle textures that are carved, modelled, and embossed by both machine and hand into the mould material are echoed onto the surface of the cured concrete.

Richard Perry works in a variety of materials but has a particular affinity with stone, and the focus of his practice is stone sculpture. His practice juxtaposes measured geometric and organic freeform sculpture to create illusory forms that break free from an underlying rationale. On a technical level, his work requires a balance of intuitive judgment and premeditated design. He uses a direct carving approach: composing and ruthlessly editing as he goes along, thinking several steps ahead. “It’s a bit like playing a game of chess with yourself, constantly trying to foresee moves and implications. When it stops being a battle, when the sculpture doesn’t annoy me anymore, when it has a character of its own and when it surprises me: that’s when it’s finished.”